NCJ Number
101333
Date Published
1984
Length
66 pages
Annotation
This report on the use of the death penalty in Jamaica resulted from Amnesty International's 1983 visit; it traces the history of Jamaica's use of capital punishment, associated studies and debates, and Amnesty International's rationale for recommending abolition of the death penalty.
Abstract
Amnesty International sent a mission to Jamaica following an increase in executions after 1980. In January 1979, the House of Representatives voted by a narrow majority to retain capital punishment and unanimously recommended that all outstanding death sentences be reviewed. In February 1979, the Senate passed a resolution recommending that executions be suspended another 18 months while another committee examined the issue in depth. Although this second committee (the Fraser Committee on Capital Punishment and Penal Reform) sat from June 1979 to March 1981, executions resumed in August 1980. The Jamaican Government resists abolishing the death penalty because of the high rate of violent crime and public support for the death penalty. The government, however, is willing to consider limiting the number of capital offenses. Amnesty International recommends abolishing the death penalty. Appended data.